Viz Media continues the expansion of its digital manga manga (graphic novel) library available exclusively for the VIZ MANGA APP for the Apple® iPad™ mobile device with several new series that will premiere during the first half of April.

The latest update features the launch of the shojo series ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND and the fantasy-action of KEKKAISHI on April 4th. Another popular shojo manga series, BLACK BIRD, and the supernatural adventure BLUE EXORCIST will premiere on April 11th. The VIZ MANGA APP is available for free through the iTunes Store and all manga volumes are generally available for purchase and download in the U.S. and Canada within the application for $4.99 (U.S. / CAN) per volume. More than 100 manga volumes are now available for download.

ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND (rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens) is the romantic shojo drama created by Yuu Watase (ARATA: THE LEGEND, FUSHIGI YUGI, CERES: CELESTIAL LEGEND). Rejected way too many times by good-looking (and unattainable) guys, shy Riiko Izawa goes online to sign up for a free trial of a mysterious Nightly Lover "figure." The very next day a cute naked guy is delivered to her door, and he wants to be her boyfriend! Has Riiko died and gone to heaven? The cute guy turns out to be sweet, smart, a great cook, and lots more. And he looks like a million bucks, which is what he's going to cost Riiko if she doesn't return him in time...

KEKKAISHI (rated ‘T’ for Teens) is an action series created by Yellow Tanabe. By night, junior high student Yoshimori Sumimura is a “Kekkaishi” – a demon-hunter who specializes in creating magical barriers around his prey. By day, Yoshimori's got some other demons to battle: an addiction to sweets and a seriously crotchety grandfather! Yoshimori's pretty 16-year-old neighbor and childhood friend, Tokine Yukimura, is also a Kekkaishi, but their families are feuding over who is the “true practitioner” of the art. In the opening volume, Yoshimori couldn't care less about catching demons… until he realizes that his apathetic attitude is taking a toll on his friendship with Tokine. Just as he decides to take matters into his own hands, a couple of amphibious demons and the pesky ghost of a pastry-chef show up to complicate matters!

BLACK BIRD (rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens) is the award-winning shojo manga series by Kanoko Sakurakoji. There is a world of myth and magic that intersects ours, and only a special few can see it. Misao Harada is one such person, and she wants nothing to do with magical realms. She just wants to have a normal high school life and maybe get a boyfriend. But she is the bride of demon prophecy, and her blood grants incredible powers, her flesh immortality. Now the demon realm is fighting over the right to her hand...or her life!

BLUE EXORCIST (Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens) was created by Kazue Katō and introduces Rin Okumura, a boy who is the son of a famous exorcist but never knew his real father. One day a fateful argument with Father Fujimoto, the priest who raised Rin, forces the boy to face a terrible truth – the blood of the demon lord Satan runs in Rin's veins! Rin swears to defeat Satan, but doing that means entering the mysterious True Cross Academy and becoming an exorcist himself. Can Rin fight the demons and keep his infernal bloodline a secret? It won't be easy, especially when drawing his father's sword releases the demonic power within him!

April updates also include new additions to 12 other popular Viz Media series currently available. Readers should check the app regularly, as new additions and free Chapter 1 previews of forthcoming manga series for the iPad are also featured.

Twenty-four series will be available on the Viz Manga App; additional new manga volumes available the weeks of April 4th and April 11th include:

PONYCAN USA launched a few months back with two shows: Denki-Gai and Yuki Yuna is a Hero. Executive Director Kazuyoshi Fukuba answers a few questions about what to expect, and what's up with those prices.― PONYCAN USA is the newly-minted US distribution arm of Pony Canyon, which has been in the Japanese media business since 1966. PONYCAN USA follows the example set by Aniplex of America, in that th...

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This little-seen family adventure about a group of tanuki living in Kyoto has careful writing and beautiful scenery; Nick Creamer thinks it might just be a modern classic.― In the guidebook accompanying Eccentric Family, series composer Shotaro Suga speaks frankly of the difficulty of condensing an entire book into an anime, and the question of where to even begin telling the story. “There are just ...

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Deadman Wonderland is a dark, unsettling look into a private prison abusing the system for the whims of the Warden and a few governmental higher ups.― Ever since 1864, a “wonderland” has been a world where the rules of logic do not apply, a carnival that can be by turns fun and frightening. Deadman Wonderland has been playing with that definition since its first volume, and now in its seventh we beg...